He said: “When I played, there were a lot of fights between players on the football pitch, but fortunately for us it didn’t get out because there wasn’t the publicity there is now.
“I don’t condone violence in any way, but when you are a competitor with a competitive nature sometimes these things happen and when you have got to pay the price, you have got to pay the price.
“Joey Barton is a good footballer and I think there will be a few Premiership sides very, very interested if he became available. I would keep him.”
